Reader question:

What does this sentence – It seems their whole pecking order in the pub revolves around how soon I acknowledge them and how long I talk to them – mean? Specifically what is "pecking order"?

My comments:

That sentence means that if, upon walking into the pub you nod to someone ahead of others in the group you make them feel important. Likewise, if you talk to, say, Tom for 10 minutes but only 6 seconds to Jerry, you make Tom look good and you make Jerry feel miserable.

Pecking order is the order in which birds take their turns to peck (eat). As Oxford Dictionary points out, pecking order is a "social hierarchy, as originally observed among hens".

As leaders of the pack, head hens (I like this, head hens) get to eat, drink and mate ahead of others. Among wolves and other beasts, it's the alpha male who gets to do the same things first. Among humans, leaders of a nation, heads of a company, school, family, etc, get to enjoy similar privileges, such as being able to walk in the front, or sit in the center, or speak first and for hours, or pick the best meat from the table.

In short, pecking order denotes the rankings observable in all types of societies, human or inhuman – I mean human or otherwise.

Here are examples to further illustrate the point.

1. The Final Word: Second-born kids face realities of the pecking order

【Pecking order】相关文章：

★ 巧妙设计小学英语课外作业

★ 英语论文：小学英语教学中的人文性

★ 学好大学英语的18条法则

★ 学习指南:巧架新概念与实战之桥

★ 运用活泼多样的表演进行小学三年级英语教课

★ 英语词汇 英文构词词根表 2

★ 培养语感三大方法

★ 学好英语音标的技巧 音标练习

★ 学习方法：中考主谓一致原则考点举要与应考对策

★ 学英语靠习惯